Musical instrument



y 5, 1932- M. JACKSON 1,865,522

MUSICAL INSTRUMENT Filed Oct. 20. 1930 l t6 aw Hill) III) #lI-l-J-J //v///vr0p: a? 714* Patented July 5, 1932 UNITEDSTATES PATENT, OFFICET MICHAEL JACKSON, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS MUSICAL INSTRUMENT Application filed October 20, 1930. Serial No. 489,898.

This invention relates to improvements in musical instruments and more particularly to that class having note control playing attachments. The invention applies specifically to mouth blown musical instruments, and mouth blown toy musicaliiistruments.

One object is to provide mouth blown musical instruments with instantly removable player attachments. .A further object is to Provide mouthblown'musical instruments with novel air distribution means so that the same volume of air is forced through all air openings and no faint notes are produced. i

A still further object is to provide a mouth blown musical instrument having means for displaying to a person,' other than the operator, the words of the composition being rendered.

With the foregoing and other objects in view the invention consists in the combination and arrangement of parts to be hereinafter fully described, pointed out in the 7 claims and.- illustrated in the accompanying drawing which forms a part of this application for patent and in which- Fig. 1 is a view of one form of the musical instrument in front elevation.

Fig. 2 is a view of the same musical instrument in rear elevation.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view of Fig. 1 in open position. I

Fig. 4 is an enlarged vertical central section a1 view through the instrument illustrated in Fig. 1. I

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary tive of the tracker bar- I Fig. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view of the spool for winding a note controlling sheet or the like.

Like reference characters denote corresponding parts throughout the several views.

The present musical instrument is removview in perspecably mounted toa tracker bar in a case having a hinged cover, the removable note controlling sheet passing over the instrument as it is wound upon one spool as the composition is played and reversed and unwound from said spool and wound upon the storage spool thereafter for playing again at will. The.

spools are under spring tension at all times so that thenote controlling sheet is kept in positive engagement with the tracker bar at all times.

' The construction of the case in which the instrument is housed is such that the instrument may be played with the case cover either in open or in closed position. A 16 reed harmonica, chromatic, is contemplated in the present invention so that any composition can be rendered in the key in which it is written.

The reference numeral 1 denotes the case in which the instrument proper is mounted and it is provided with the cover 2 secured thereto by the hinge 3. A storage spool 4 and a receiving spool 5 are removably mounted in'the casing in like manner, each having flanged terminals and a shaft 6 formed with a slot 7 for receiving one end of the note conthrough the cap-shaped housing 10 and therebeyond is provided. with the terminal disc l1',an' expansion coil spring 12 encircling said stub shaft within the housing 10 abutting'one wall thereof and the collar 13 fast upon said shaft whereby the inner end of the shaft is yieldingly retained. in supporting engagement with one flanged end of said spool. Each spool is formed at its opposite flanged end with a recess conforming to the shapeof the inner end of the shank 14 of the crank 151' ournaled in the case and provided with the handle 16 whereby the spool may be rotated. Obviously the note controlling sheet may be unrolled from one spool l'upon the other spool 5 and vice versa as desired. Disposed between the spools and parallel thereto and spaced therefrom within the case is the tracker bar 17,.round in cross sec tion, closed at its ends andvformed with the terminal flanges 18f and with a perforation 19 in each end to receive one end of a screw 20 whereby it is releasably secured in position within the case. The terminal flanges 18 of the tracker bar serve as guidesfor the notecontrolling sheet 8 and prevent it from moving laterally out of operative position.

The tracker bar is formed with a perforation 21 that registers with the bore 22 in the mouthpiece 23 that extends out through a perforation 2% in the case, said tracker bar being formed also with a plurality of perforations 25 arranged in spaced relation longitudinally thereof, certain of said perforations being directly opposite the perforation 26 in the cover 2. Inserted in the tracker bar before one end thereof is permanently sealed is the harmonica 27, the air passages thereof being in alignment with similar passages formed in the rubber packing strip 28, the air passages thereof being in alignment also with the perforations 2-5 of the tracker bar. The harmonica extends transversely of the perforation 21 in the tracker bar and of the bore 22 of the mouth piece and it is received between the parallel spaced guide strips 29, 30 that extend longitudinally of the tracker bar, air spaces being formed between the said strips 29, 30 and the edges of the perforation 21 so that air entering the mouth piece will pass up about both sides of the harmonica.

The note controlling sheet 8 may have printed thereupon the words 31 of the composition being played in such manner that as the sheet moves from one spool to the other the words will be displayed, in order, before the perforation 26 in the cover so that a party other than the operator may read them and sing the song being played. The operator holds the case 1 in one hand and rotates a handle 16 to unwind the note controlling sheet 8 from the storage spool 4 over the tracker bar and wind it upon the receiving spool 5 while he blows his breath through the mouthpiece The air passes into the tracker bar between the strips 29, 30 and the edges of the perforation 21 and through the reeds of the harmonica and out through the aligned perforations or air passages in the harmonica, rubber strip 28 and passages 25 of the tracker bar and may pass out through the perforation 26 in the cover. The seal between the harmonica, tracker bar and rubber strip is air tight and an equal distribution of the air to all open passageways of the harmonica insures clear tone at all times without any notes played being faint. The instrument can be played with its case wide open, that is with the cover raised as the cover is not intended to confine the air. The cover and case may be secured together in closed position by means of the snap hook fastener 32.

hat is claimed is 1. In a player instrument, a case, a tracker bar removably mounted therein for carrying an harmonica, spools upon opposite sides of said tracker bar, a notes sheet adapted to be wound and unwound back and forth from one spool to the other and over said tracker bar,

said tracker bar being formed with a perforation upon its side opposite to the sheet side thereof of greater diameter than the harmonica to admit air in equal volume to both sides thereof, a mouth piece for said tracker bar registering with said opening, and parallel guide strips for said tracker bar embracing the harmonica and traversing the said tracker bar perforation.

2. In a player instrument, a case, atracker bar removably mounted therein for carrying an harmonica, a perforated packing strip interposed between said tracker bar and harmonioa, the perforations in said packing strip registering with the openings in the harmonica, spools upon opposite sides of said tracker bar, a notes sheet adapted to be wound and unwound back and forth from one spool to the other and over said tracker bar, and a mouth piece for said tracker bar upon the side thereof remote from said notes sheet.

3. In a player instrument, a case, a tracker bar extending transversely thereof for carrying an harmonica and having sealed perforated ends, screws removably disposed in the sides of said case and engaging the perforated tracker bar ends, a notes sheet movable over said tracker bar, and a mouth piece for said tracker bar upon the side thereof remote from said notes sheet.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature.

MICHAEL JACKSON. 

